It’s official! Well, almost.
This weekend might not be that special for most of us, just another forty-eight-hour span spent Netflix-ing, eating, and sleeping, not necessarily in that order. However, for Marvel Studios, by Monday there’s a good chance that the King of Wakanda will also claim the MCU’s domestic box office record.
Although it appears that the critical and financial success that is Black Panther will be dethroned by Steven S. DeKnight’s Pacific Rim sequel Uprising at the box office this weekend, Deadline is projecting that the Ryan Coogler-directed picture will still bring in an estimated three-day total of $17 million. With that number, the film’s domestic box office haul will rise to $631.2 million, pushing it past The Avengers, which ended its run with a very respectable $623 million.
It isn’t all good news for the King of Wakanda, however, as the film’s global total is projected to finish at $1.2 billion, just shy of Joss Whedon’s aforementioned 2012 movie, which collected $1.5 billion worldwide. To be honest, though, neither of these superhero pics can expect to brag about their significant box office gains for too much longer, because Anthony and Joe Russo’s Avengers: Infinity War is set to obliterate any and all records that stand in its way come next month.
Still, the truth of the matter is that Black Panther’s success remains something to marvel (pun intended) at. Out-earning the MCU’s first supergroup picture domestically, which currently sits at fifth all-time at the worldwide box office, was no easy feat. As previously stated, T’Challa won’t be able to hold on to that record for too much longer, as Infinity War is set to be unleashed on April 27th, but there’s absolutely nothing that can diminish the monstrous success that it’s seen up until now. Wakanda forever, indeed!
